Representatives of the diplomatic and business world attended the lunch, which was held at the Athens Club on Wednesday 12th July.

The British President of the Chamber, Mr Alexander Tuner welcomed the participants making a purposeful reference to the importance of education and also common sense in the efforts to get Greece out of prolonged recession.

In her brief welcome, the Greek President of the Chamber, Mrs Anna Kaliani, after underlining the strong and long-term nature of British-Hellenic relations, referred to the objective of the Chamber that consists in strengthening business, commercial and cultural relations between Greece and Britain. She also noted that the basic pillars of bilateral relations between the two countries include sectors such as financial services and insurance, shipping, tourism, technology, exports and education.

Within the framework of his address, Mr Megalou stressed that Piraeus Bank can contribute actively to restarting the Greek economy and getting sustainable development back on track.

"After the completion of the second evaluation, the economic climate is expected to improve noticeably, thus allowing the country to turn a page and for all of us to focus on the real issue, namely development. I am entirely optimistic as regards the country's exit from multi-annual recession" he noted and added that "this is conditional on the involvement of all the healthy productive, entrepreneurial and social forces of the country and a change of development model, focused on extroversion, the attraction of investments, strong competitiveness, innovation and added value', noted Mr. Megalou.

Referring to British-Hellenic relations, he noted that the strong ties between Greece and the United Kingdom have a long history and are particularly important, and that it is therefore to the benefit of both countries to maintain and strengthen the multi-level relations between them. "The new agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom should be based on cooperation and the common values of the European people, and safeguard the free market, and the interests and common dreams of European citizens. Within this framework, it should be ensured that business relations between Greece and the United Kingdom will not only continue to be mutually beneficial but also strengthen the historical links between the two countries in order for them to jointly confront the current difficult challenges."